BUHARI’S VIREMENT: Senate approves but Ekweremadu says request unconstitutional

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, today, described President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for virement was unconstitutional.

This is even as the Senate, raised the virement request of N180 billion by N34 billion, thereby bringing the total sum to N214 billion.

Senator Ekweremadu declared virement in its entirety unconstitutional, when the Upper Chamber was considering the report of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on the virement of funds appropriated for special investment (recurrent) and special intervention (capital) for funding of critical recurrent and capital items in the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

He cited section 81(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), noting that this portion of the law allows the President to submit a supplementary appropriation to the National Assembly in case of shortfall in the budget.

According to him, appropriation Act and supplementary Act are provided for in the Constitution but virement has no place in the nation’s highest law book.

Ekweremadu therefore, implored the Senate and in deed all those piloting the affairs of the state to correct this anomaly and stick only to constitutional provisions.

“I want to call the attention of this Senate to section 81 subsection 4 just for our guidance and for the future. Section 81 (4) of the Constitution says “If in respect of any financial year, it is found that the amount appropriated by the appropriation Act for any purpose is insufficient or the need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no amount has been appropriated by the Act, a supplementary estimate showing the sums required shall be laid before each House of the National Assembly and the needs of any such expenditure shall be included in a supplementary appropriation bill.

“Your excellency, distinguished colleagues, we have been going through the issue of virement which is not known in our constitution. It is a military terminology and it is certainly not in our constitution. When they present this virement nobody makes any reference to any law authorising it.

“What we do is in respect of this constitution; we swore an oath to abide by the provisions of this constitution. Regarding appropriation, we have either the appropriation Act or the supplementary act, there is nothing like virement. For our guidance and the guidance of the executive, I propose that going forward, if there is any shortfall or there is need to cover any ground that has not been covered, the appropriate thing to do is a supplementary appropriation not a virement because virement is not known to this constitution,” he said.

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However, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, drew the attention of the Senate to the fact that section 24 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) provides for virement, stressing that FRA is also part of the laws by which the country is governed.

Senator Adamu in his submission, said, “nobody in his senses will doubt or contest the very clear provisions of the constitution with respect to budgetary appropriations.

However, there is a Fiscal Responsibility Act, section 24 thus provides for virement. While we accept the intervention, we don’t want to create the impression to a wrong thing in totality because there is a fiscal responsibility act which is recognised by the constitution”.

Consequently, Senator Adamu, while appreciating Ekweremadu’s observation, pointed out that President Buhari did not breach the law by submitting the virement to the National Assembly.

Reacting to the constitutional question raised by Ekweremadu, the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, appreciated the clarification, and said that what the Senate was doing was to help the executive arm in tackling the menacing economic problem in the country.

His words: “I think your observation as far as the constitution is concerned is well noted. I think we are all fully aware of that and that is why I continue to thank my colleagues so much in the way we have been addressing the issue of the economy and we are not looking at it from whichever party we belong.

“If we stick to the constitution, you are very right and it is part of our support and cooperation to the executive, and to Nigerians to move things forward. As you rightly said, this should come as a supplementary budget but it is part of trying to make this country move forward while the executive should also take note of these observations.”‎

Meanwhile, the Senate passed the virement, raising it from N180 billion to N214 billion.

The House had increased the virement to N208 for purported additional shortfalls discovered during the meeting of National Assembly Joint Appropriations Committee with heads of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government.

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